In, Through, and Beyond
by Galantron
Summary: In 1979, the USS Cygnus went missing, never to be seen again. 35 years later, Professor Oak, with a space telescope, has found the Cygnus on the edge of a supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy. Ash Ketchum, his friends, six human-pokemon hybrids, and Mewtwo are now going to the Cygnus. What secrets will they find on board the Cygnus and on the edge of the black hole?
1. Professor Oak's Discovery

Ash and his Pikachu, along their companions, Misty and Brock were in Cianwood City after Ash had won the Storm Badge from the Cianwood City gym trainer Chuck. They were on their way to the docks to wait for a ferry to the mainland, when suddenly as they passed by a Pokemon Center, Nurse Joy came out of the building and stopped them.

Nurse Joy then said to Ash, "Excuse me, there is a phone call for you from a Professor Oak in Pallet Town."

Ash and his friends then walked into the Pokemon Center and went over to one of the video-phone stalls.

The screen revealed Professor Oak, feeling content to see Ash and his companions, started speaking, "Hello there, Ash, it's good to see you again, as well as your friends."

Ash then asked, "So what did you call us up for?"

Professor Oak replied, "I wanted to tell you that I want you and your friends in Pallet Town as soon as possible."

Misty asked, "Why? Is there something wrong?"

Professor Oak replied assuring her, "No, young lady, nothing is wrong. I just have something very important that I want the three of you to see."

Brock asked out of curiosity, "What is it?"

Professor Oak's response was, "You'll have to come to Pallet Town to see."

The video-phone screen then went blank as he hung up, leaving Ash and his friends mystified, but they knew that they couldn't refuse Professor Oak's request and unanimously agreed that they should head to Pallet Town, post haste.

And sure enough, Ash and his friends made it to Pallet Town within 2 days, and Professor Oak was expecting them at the Pallet Town's Pokemon Center. He quickly led them inside and into a room which had six other individuals who were as old as Ash and his friends. Ash, Misty, and Brock sat at a table where the six individuals were also sitting, as Professor Oak stood next to a projector screen.

Professor Oak stated, "Before we start, I want to introduce you to each other. Ash, Misty, Brock, these are Lance, Laurel, Pika, Charles, Skyler, and Burke. And everyone, this is Ash Ketchum and his friends, Misty and Brock. Now, I shall enlighten you all on why I summoned all of you here. Last week, I was using a space telescope to observe a helium gas cloud being devoured by a black hole. Here is an animation of the black hole in particular, the supermassive black hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy, Sagittarius A*."

With said, a computer animation of the supermassive black hole, Sagittarius A*, appeared on the projector screen. Everyone sitting at table gasped at the sight of the black singularity surrounded by a spinning, heated, accretion disk.

Laurel then said with shock, "It's like a scene out of Dante's Inferno."

Ash then said with awe, "Yes. The most destructive force in the universe. Nothing can escape it, not even light."

Misty added, "I read in an article by Professor Birch from the Hoenn region that one day black holes would devour the entire universe."

Brock then said, "Why not? When you can see giant suns get sucked in and disappear without a trace."

Pika said, "Everytime I hear about one of those things, I excpect to see some guy in red with horns and a pitchfork."

Lance then added, "It's a real life monster alright."

Professor Oak then stated, "A rip in the very fabric of space and time. But while I was watching the black hole devour the helium cloud, I sighted something else of interest."

Ash asked, "What was it?"

Another image popped up on the projecter screen, zoomed in closer to the black hole, but showing the outline of an object near the black hole.

Professor Oak said, "It hasn't moved since I first picked it up last week. It appears to be some kind of ship."

Charles then asked, "But how could anybody be out there ahead of us?"

Professor Oak then stated, "I decided to try and indentify the mystery spaceship through an identification program. 6 times, I failed to get a match. Then on the 7th try, I managed to identify it as the American-built Deep Space Probe One, named USS Cygnus."

Skyler then quietly asked Lance, "Hey Lance, wasn't that the ship that our creator was on before he returned to Earth in 1978?"

Professor Oak then said, "The mission that the USS Cygnus was given was to try and discover habitable life in outer space. The same as our space telescope."

Burke then asked, "What happened to that ship?"

Professor Oak replied, "Well, 35 years ago, on December 21st, 1979, the USS Cygnus and its crew were recalled to Earth, their mission was considered a failure. The mission's lead scientist was Dr. Hans Reinhardt."

Brock asked, "Did you meet Dr. Reinhardt?"

Professor Oak responded, "Collided with him would be a more accurate description."

Misty asked, "So do you think he ignored his recall?"

Ash said, "Maybe. It also could be that it never got through."

Professor Oak then said, "Well, that has remained a mystery all these 35 years, because shortly after the recall was sent out, the USS Cygnus and its crew disappeared. It had never been seen again."

Lance asked, "But do you think that anyone would go looking for them?"

Professor Oak replied, "15 years after the USS Cygnus disappeared, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration or NASA of the USA sent the deep space exploration spaceship, USS Palomino and its 5-person crew to search for the ship. But the USS Palomino and its entire crew were also never seen or heard from again."

Ash then said, "Now after 35 years of being lost in space, you managed to find the ship near a black hole with a space telescope."

Charles then asked, "So where do we come in?"

Burke added, "What do we have to with all this?"

Professor Oak responded, "Before you I called you all here, I relayed my discovery to NASA. When they recieved the news of the USS Cygnus and its location, they gave me the request to set up a team to go to the ship. I felt like choosing all of you. You may not be astronauts, but given all of your backgrounds, you are all proficient. We have a great Pokemon trainer and two experienced gym trainers. Ash, I should let you and your friends know that brother-sister duo, Laurel and Lance, and their friends are all human-pokemon hybrids."

Ash and friends became both greatly surprised and awed by this information.

Laurel then said, "What Professor Oak said is true. We were created by Dr. Fuji, this was before he made that psychic-type Pokemon clone, Mewtwo. My brother Lance is a hybrid of human and Latios DNA. I'm a hybrid of human and Latias DNA. Pika is a human-Pikachu hybrid. Charles, a human-Charmander hybrid. Skyler, a human-Squirtle hybrid. And Burke, a human-Bulbasaur hybrid."

Professor Oak then said, "Before you get into space, you need to get to the spaceport, the Cape Canaveral launch area in Florida, in the United States."

Ash, Misty, and Brock then agreed to do the mission.

Lance then said, "We'll do the mission too. But before we leave for Cape Canaveral, our friends, my sister, and I want to see if we can recruit the Pokemon my sister mentioned before. Don't worry, the 6 of us already have an idea of where he is, and given our biology, we think he'll listen more to us rather than normal humans."

Ash then said, "Then the 3 of us will wait here with Professor Oak, until you come back, hopefully with Mewtwo."

Misty said supportively, "Let's hope he can be understanding with you."

Brock added, "Either way, we'll all be involved in a mission of historical significance."

Then Professor Oak, Ash, and his friends bid Laurel, Lance, and their friends farewell as the 6 hybrids headed for Cerulean Cave to speak to Mewtwo, and see if he would join them on their mission to the center of our galaxy, its supermassive black hole, and the lost but now found USS Cygnus.


	2. A Meeting of the Minds

So, while Ash, Misty, and Brock made preparations to go to Cape Canaveral in the state of Florida in the United States, as well as trained to pilot a spaceship, Lance, Laurel, and their friends were in Cerulean City looking for Cerulean Cave, where Mewtwo is said to reside. A resident informed the group that the entrance of the cave was northwest of the city. After 15 minutes of walking, they soon came upon the entrance to Cerulean Cave, the dwelling place of the all powerful Psychic-type Pokemon, Mewtwo.

Burke then asked, "So, Lance, if in the event that Mewtwo agrees to joins us, how do you think we'll get out of the cave?"

Lance replied, "Well, Mewtwo has spent more time in that cave than any living thing, so he would be more than able to guide us out of the cave ."

Pika then asked, "And if Mewtwo doesn't agree to join the mission?"

Lance added, "If he doesn't, we have these M-94 Marking Flares. They are capable of burning for 48 hours. I'll ignite one flare for every 100 feet we traverse in the cave. That way we don't get lost on the way back. So, now we shall enter into that cave and find our potential teammate who may hopefully join our venture into outer space. Now, let's get to it."

And sure enough, they entered into the cave to search for Mewtwo, who is said reside in the deepest part of the cave system. 100 feet into the cave, Lance lit the first flare. It burned a bright cherry red as he set it down on the ground. Lance and Laurel led way, as they used their psychic abilities to locate Mewtwo within the cave system. Another 100 feet into the cave passage, Lance lit another flare and set it on the ground. He would continue to do this throughout the journey into the deeper regions of the cave. 2 hours and 48 flares later, Lance, Laurel, and their friends had found the deepest part of the cave where the passageways continued no further. It was large open cavern, with a hole in the ceiling that connected to a vertical shaft that led to the surface, acting as a source of natural light. The floor of the cavern was filled with water, that surrounded a small island of rock directly below the hole in the ceiling. The walls of the cavern had three small bedroom-like niches carved into them, much like the interior of the Neolithic Orkney cairn-type tomb called Maeshowe. One niche was on one side of the cavern, directly opposite of the passageway, while the other two niches were directly across from each other. Lance, Laurel, and the others stood on the shore of this 'moat' of an underground lake in front of the passageway.

Then a voice said to them from the other side of the cavern, "Come foward and onto the island beneath the light."

Lance replied, "Forgive me, but there is the water that surrounds it that obstructs us reaching the island."

Then suddenly, a light blue aura enveloped Lance, Laurel, and their friends, and then they started floating towards the island beneath the hole in the cavern ceiling, on which they soon landed. From where they now stood, it seemed as though beyond the beam of light, there was only pitch black darkness to be seen from the brightly illuminated island.

The unseen voice then added, "With the assistance of my powers, there are no such obstructions to worry about."

Laurel then said, "Well, although it isn't my place as a guest to say this, but I think it would be proper if you would talk to us in person, rather than remaining in the shadows and out of our view."

The hidden voice replied, "Well, at least you and your companions are honest, which is more than I can say for most other humans I've met. But then again, you and your friends are not completely human."

At that point, they say a figure emerge from the shadows as it floated towards them, and landed in front of them. At that moment, Lance, Laurel, and their friends knew that the individual they were talking to, was the powerful psychic-type Pokemon known as Mewtwo.

Mewtwo added, "Yes, I noticed that the 6 of you are all Human-Pokemon hybrids. I already which Pokemon comprises the other half of your genetic makeup. The only question that I have about you is, who created you?"

Lance answered, "The very same man that created you after he created us, Dr. Fuji."

Mewtwo said, "I figured as much. He was the only one capable of such a feat in genetics. But now, let us return to the topic at the present moment. Why have you searched me out?"

Laurel then answered, "That is because we wish to ask something of you."

Mewtwo then asked, "What is it that you wish to ask me?"

Lance then described to Mewtwo the events that led to them meeting him. He told Mewtwo about how Professor Oak found the USS Cygnus near the black hole, the mission being planned to get to the location of the ship, and the plans for going on board the ship.

Lance then said, "So basically, what we are asking is, will you join us on our mission to the USS Cygnus?"

Mewtwo responded, "Well, I suppose this mission could give me a chance to expand my knowledge of the universe that I share with other Pokemon. Knowing the opportunities presented by this mission, I guess I can afford to join your mission. So, when do we leave?"

Laurel answered, "The mission leaves for the USS Cygnus from Cape Canaveral in three days, but we have to return to the Pokemon Center in Pallet Town as soon as possible to link up with the other three members of our team before we go to the USA."

Mewtwo then said, "Well then, prepare yourselves for a really fast flight to Pallet Town."

With that said, the same light blue aura appeared on Lance, Laurel, and their friends at the same time that Mewtwo's eyes glowed the same color. They all then floated above the ground and then they flew up and out of the cavern through the vertical shaft. Then they all flew at high speed towards Pallet Town to join Ash and his friends and start the mission, which was due to leave Earth for the USS Cygnus in three days time.


End file.
